The weather outside was frightful but the mood in the Clinton Presidential Center was merry and bright as staff and volunteers gathered for the annual volunteer of the year gala on Nov. 30.
Ann Kamps, the Clinton Center's volunteer coordinator, explained the training volunteers receive about the museum's exhibits as well as about the safety of those who come to see them, and she lauded the dedication of volunteers who remained in the building to steer more than 100 anxious guests to the building's basement when tornadoes ripped through the city in March. Many of the volunteers and staff in the Clinton Center that day were aware that their homes were in the path of the storm, Kamps said.
"I have never been more proud or more emotionally moved than I was on that day," she said.
Weather conditions on the evening of this event did not reach severe levels, though there were a few claps of thunder and flashes of lightning among the torrential downpours.
Patrick Jacob, 2023 Volunteer of the Year, was welcomed to the stage by former President Bill Clinton and last year's Volunteer of the Year Jesse Gatewood; as well as Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, dean of the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas; Jay Barth, director of the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum; and Stephanie Streett, executive director of the Clinton Foundation.
Clinton thanked the volunteers who provided 792,000 volunteer hours over the past year.
"We would not be able to run this place without you," he said.
Clinton had plenty of good things to say about Jacob.
"This year's volunteer has committed his life to service," Clinton said of Jacob's service in the Arkansas Army National Guard, which included deployments to Iraq and as a peacekeeper in Kosovo.
Jacob was appointed to the National Constitution Center's Teacher Advisory Council, the American Civil War Museum's Teacher Advisory Council and, earlier this year, was selected by the White House Historical Association as one of 30 educators nationwide to attend the White House Teacher Institute in Washington.
"Somehow, he has managed to fit in more than 700 hours of service to the Clinton Presidential Center while doing all these other things, since 2019," Clinton said. "I want to thank him for what he's done there and say how pleased I am that he's just been selected to this year's Presidential Leadership Scholars."
-- Story and photos by Kimberly Dishongh